Always
by thisisacrazydream
Summary: prompt by lilacmermaid25 - What if Leanne was severely injured in The Accident, so much so that she's still dealing with the consequences and/or recovery?


I did some research on intramedullary nails and its both awesome and kind of gruesome if you see the surgery of how it's done. I like watching surgeries so it hasn't been the worst one I've seen *shrugs*. Anyways enjoy!

With a deep sigh Leanne lifted her legs onto the couch in her office and closed her eyes against the throbbing pain in her leg. She'd been on her feet for what felt like weeks. She'd been at the hospital so long she'd considered just moving in. A string of code black's had kept her in the hospital for days.

Most of the time she could live with the constant pain of her leg but after being on her feet for so long she couldn't take it anymore. At the first sign of respite from patients she'd made her way to her office as quickly as she could manage.

She started when a knock sounded at her closed office door.

"I'm not here," Leanne called without opening her eyes

The door opened and Leanne could tell by the footsteps that it was Neal. He shut the door behind him.

"Did you take something?"

"No. If I get called back to the ER I don't want to be impaired."

"Take your pills. You have the next two days off."

She opened her eyes and turned her head to see Neal sitting on the coffee table in front of her couch.

"We both have the next two days off," Neal clarified, "Mark is giving us the time. He's afraid you are going to collapse, or do irrevocable harm to your leg, or murder him or something."

Leanne rolled her eyes at the last thing and then said, "I'm pretty sure I can't do anything worse to my leg."

"Leanne, you have a titanium rod in your femur. It took you a year after the accident for you to walk without a noticeable limp."

She sighed rubbing at her right hip. She'd broken her femur in several places during the accident and an intramedullary nail (rod) had been hammered into her bone and secured with screws. She could always tell when it was going to rain (the sparingly that it did in LA).

"I know I was there," Leanne sighed

Neal smiled at her attempt to deflect, "You're still doing too much. You aren't allowing yourself to heal properly."

"I know."

She watched the other man blink in surprise at her agreement.

"You must be in a lot of pain to give in so quickly."

"Maybe I want to snuggle in a warm bed with my husband."

That earned Leanne a wide smile. They'd only been married for a few months but the giddy feeling had not worn off. Neal got up and grabbed Leanne's bag taking her bottle of tramadol out. Shaking out a pill he walked over to her with the bottle of water she'd had on her desk. Leanne pulled herself into a seated position and swallowed the pill.

"Lets get you up and home before you are completely unresponsive."

Neal helped Leanne to her feet and she leaned on him as her right leg momentarily gave out. They slowly made their way down to the locker room. Neal grabbed their things and noted Leanne was leaning on him.

"When was the last time you ate something?"

"Thursday."

It was Sunday.

"Leanne!"

"I've been a little busy."

With a roll of his eyes Neal steered Leanne toward the exit but not before they ran into Jesse. Leanne pulled the shorter man into a hug as soon as she saw him.

"I'm guessing you got her to take her pain medication," Jesse asked bemusedly as he hugged Leanne back

She got extremely touchy-feely when drugged.

"That I did. Mark gave us the next two days off."

Jesse gently pushed Leanne away from him noting her pout, "I'll make sure you aren't bothered."

"Thank you Jesse. Come on love."

Neal managed to get Leanne outside and into the car. By the time he buckled her seatbelt and got into the car she was out and snoring lightly. His heart swelled with love for this fierce woman who had shown her vulnerability to him and he had never taken it for granted. Once he'd reached home he took all of their things into the house and kept the door open as he made his way back out for his love.

He picked her up out of the car and up the stairs gently laying her down in bed. Grabbing the heating pad from the bedside drawer he turned it on and draped it over her hip, right where she had pain the most. He then went back down to the both lock the car and the house. Walking back to the bedroom he stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed next to Leanne on her uninjured side.

He was pulling the blankets over them when Leanne stirred, "Thank you for taking care of me Neal."

The words were spoken softly.

"Always Leanne."

He saw a small smile on her face and she'd fallen back to sleep.

"Always," Neal spoke into Leanne's hair as he closed his eyes and followed her into slumber


End file.
